Universal coupon redemption system and method
First Claim
1. A method, performed by a coupon processing appliance having a processor, a memory, a laser barcode scanner, a network interface, and a coupon destruction device, for redeeming coupons, the method comprising the steps of:
- storing, by the processor, in the memory of the coupon processing appliance, a local copy of an electronic database of registered coupons received from a server, each registered coupon having at least one redemption requirement;
receiving, by the processor, a transaction log for a product purchase transaction from a point of sale system;
receiving, by the processor, identifying information about a surrendered coupon presented for redemption from the point of sale system;
matching, by the processor, the surrendered coupon to a corresponding coupon in the local copy of the electronic database of registered coupons;
checking, by the processor, whether the surrendered coupon previously has been redeemed in the product purchase transaction;
identifying, by the processor, the at least one redemption requirement for the corresponding coupon;
analyzing, by the processor, the transaction log to confirm that the at least one redemption requirement for the corresponding coupon has been satisfied during the product purchase transaction;
flagging, by the processor, that the surrendered coupon has been used during the product purchase transaction so that a duplicate copy of the surrendered coupon cannot be reused during the product purchase transaction;
matching, by the processor, the surrendered coupon with the product purchase transaction;
instructing, by the processor, the coupon destruction device to destroy the surrendered coupon after matching the surrendered coupon with the product purchase transaction;
sending, by the processor, the transaction log to the server in response to the surrendered coupon having been matched to the product purchase transaction and destroyed by the coupon destruction device; and
instructing, by the processor, the server to authorize reimbursement to a redeeming retailer of the surrendered coupon from an issuer of the surrendered coupon for an amount of the surrendered coupon in response to the surrendered coupon having been matched to the product purchase transaction and destroyed by the coupon destruction device.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention comprises a universal coupon redemption system and method for redeeming both paper and electronic coupons that eliminates fraud. The system and method provides verification, validation and authentication of coupon redemption transactions in a third party environment while eliminating the need to ship coupons to manufacturers for reimbursement. In one embodiment, the system and method also advantageously addresses the increasingly complex identification of coupons by removing the encoded redemption requirements from the coupon itself and moving the redemption requirements to a third party coupon processing appliance.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method, performed by a coupon processing appliance having a processor, a memory, a laser barcode scanner, a network interface, and a coupon destruction device, for redeeming coupons, the method comprising the steps of:
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storing, by the processor, in the memory of the coupon processing appliance, a local copy of an electronic database of registered coupons received from a server, each registered coupon having at least one redemption requirement; receiving, by the processor, a transaction log for a product purchase transaction from a point of sale system; receiving, by the processor, identifying information about a surrendered coupon presented for redemption from the point of sale system; matching, by the processor, the surrendered coupon to a corresponding coupon in the local copy of the electronic database of registered coupons; checking, by the processor, whether the surrendered coupon previously has been redeemed in the product purchase transaction; identifying, by the processor, the at least one redemption requirement for the corresponding coupon; analyzing, by the processor, the transaction log to confirm that the at least one redemption requirement for the corresponding coupon has been satisfied during the product purchase transaction; flagging, by the processor, that the surrendered coupon has been used during the product purchase transaction so that a duplicate copy of the surrendered coupon cannot be reused during the product purchase transaction; matching, by the processor, the surrendered coupon with the product purchase transaction; instructing, by the processor, the coupon destruction device to destroy the surrendered coupon after matching the surrendered coupon with the product purchase transaction; sending, by the processor, the transaction log to the server in response to the surrendered coupon having been matched to the product purchase transaction and destroyed by the coupon destruction device; and instructing, by the processor, the server to authorize reimbursement to a redeeming retailer of the surrendered coupon from an issuer of the surrendered coupon for an amount of the surrendered coupon in response to the surrendered coupon having been matched to the product purchase transaction and destroyed by the coupon destruction device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A universal coupon redemption system, comprising:
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a processor configured to; store a local copy of an electronic database of registered coupons received from a server, each registered coupon having at least one redemption requirement; receive a transaction log for a product purchase transaction from a point of sale system; receive identifying information about a surrendered coupon presented for redemption from the point of sale system; match the surrendered coupon to a corresponding coupon in the local copy of the electronic database of registered coupons; check whether the surrendered coupon previously has been redeemed in the product purchase transaction; identify the at least one redemption requirement for the corresponding coupon; analyze the transaction log to confirm that the at least one redemption requirement for the corresponding coupon has been satisfied during the product purchase transaction; flag that the surrendered coupon has been used during the product purchase transaction so that a duplicate copy of the surrendered coupon cannot be reused during the product purchase transaction; match the surrendered coupon with the product purchase transaction; instruct a coupon destruction device to destroy the surrendered coupon after matching the surrendered coupon with the product purchase transaction; send the transaction log to the server in response to the surrendered coupon having been matched to the product purchase transaction and destroyed by the coupon destruction device; and instruct the server authorize reimbursement to a redeeming retailer of the surrendered coupon from an issuer of the surrendered coupon for an amount of the surrendered coupon in response to the surrendered coupon having been matched to the product purchase transaction and destroyed by the coupon destruction device. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification